THE FREE PRESS
OPINION
Page A8
THURSDAY, FEBURARY 8, 1996
 PHONE 564-0005
 Inquest won’t have answers
Marjean Fichtenberg’s quest for an examination into why her son died at the hands of a known violent offender, who walked away from a halfway house, has been long and difficult. She expects to find answers as to how something like this could happen but we’re afraid she’s going to be disappointed. The first witnesses have done little to assauge the concerns of a parole board system that lets people like Paul Butler out into the community.
  Former National Parole Board member Wilson Seig comes clean and admits mistakes were made after Butler stabbed Dennis Fichtenberg to death; but no one is really prepared to admit Butler should never have been in a halfway house.
  The RCMP muddied the waters with their attempt to describe the difference between an informant and an agent. And their claims Butler’s parole was the sole perogative of the Parole Board, with no influence coming from the police, doesn’t ring completely true.
  With luck, Mrs. Fichtenberg will be allowed to properly put her son to rest. She’ll know why and how her son had to die. She’ll have the satisifaction of seeing the people who screwed up pay the price, albeit not the price paid by 25-year-old Dennis Fichtenberg.
  And even if a mother’s questions are answered, the inquest will inevitable raise more questions - the main being whether this can happen again.
  Unfortunately, it probably will. The Coroner’s Inquest was orderd by provincial Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh but the Parole Board is a federal responsibility. As former parole board member Mr. Seig points out, the chances of the bureaucrats taking responsibility and changing the rules are slim and none.
  And that means someone else will die.
 \XtfA- T£MD£AM             A
   PoiOTfe.r>             To
   LMC i        I\oUCK     .
               THE PRINCE GEORGE
         FREE PRESS
   Publisher: Curt Duddy Editor: Shane Mills
   The Prince George Free Press, a politically independent newspaper, is published Thursdays and Sundays by Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd. at 200-1515 2nd Avenue, Prince George, B.C. V2L 3B8 Phone. 564-0005 Fax: 562-0025
   All material contained in this publication is protected by copyright. Reproduction is expressly prohibited by the rightsholder.
   Editorial: Tonya Hartz, Cheryl Jahn, Frank Peebles and Chris Simnett
   Advertising manager: Todd Carnelley Sales: Judy Bolton, Shannon Fraser, Terry Hamilton, Vince Scott, Duncan Sinclair, Richard Skinner, Cheryl Stewart and Carmen Struthers
  Production manager: David Blair
   Administration: Tracey Stad, office manager; Marnie Foubert and Donna Lutz
  Circulation: Ken Hastey, manager; Dennis Callaghan
What is harassment?
I
f the purpose of theatre is to provoke discussion, then Oleanna definitely succeeded. Putting aside the playwright’s misogynist tendencies, Oleanna raises the issue of sexual harassment
and makes people ponder what it means. And whether men actually have anything to say on the matter.
The whole debate can be summed in the female character’s declaration that the man’s feelings or intentions are irrelevant. “It's what I feel,” she says.
   And therein lies the dilemma: men can be accused for something that isn’t tangible. This doesn’t disqualify the feelings of the woman, but it sure makes it hard to know how to deal with the opposite sex.
   Is the same locker room humour that bonds men together completely out of order? What if one woman, who the joke is directed to, doesn’t take offence but another woman does?
   Docs all humour have to be checked by the thought police?
   What if the man feels uncomfortable'.’ Who is going to believe him?
                                                                RUMOUR MILLS
                                                                    Shane Mills
    While Oleanna provokes the viewer to think, it does a poor job of setting a realistic scenario. Most women, at least the younger ones, were frustrated with their representative on the stage. To them the questions of flaunting power to influence a woman’s actions didn’t strike a realistic chord. And the accusation of rape was greeted with outright derision.
    And power is, without doubt, a
consideration when talking about sexual harassment and sexual assault. The case of Bishop Hubert O’Connor is a prime example. It’s hard to believe that a young woman, at a Catholic residential school, can be said to offer true consent to a relationship with a Catholic priest. That’s an abuse of power.
    Though he's better fleshed out, the male character has his own problems - his most glaring one being his need to be a rebel and at the same time yearning for tenure at the university.
    His wail of ‘why are you doing this to me?’ struck a responsive chord because the anguish was real and all his.
    But the most accurate characterization in Oleanna came from the simple phrase. “My group and I." The empty vassal, at least as crafted by David Mamet, was suddenly strong and articulate. However, were the ideas really hers? Probably not.
    The nebulous ‘group’, who are accountable to no one, provides the impetus for a breakdown in communication.
    And the key to stopping harassment is communication. Along with a healthy dose of common-sense.